SF Giants finish sweep of Braves behind unlikely two-homer effort

Atlanta – OK, children, go to Wikipedia and look up Ronald Reagan. He once sat in the Oval Office (and look up “Oval Office” if you must). It was a long, long time ago. Before the Internet.

Brandon Crawford scores on his 2-run homer against the Atlanta Braves during the 8th inning. (Curtis Compton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution/MCT)

Reagan was president the last time the Giants swept a three-game series in Atlanta, in 1988. They finally repeated the feat Sunday with another homer barrage and a 4-1 victory, their ninth in the past 10 games and 20th in 31 games for the year.

The difference this time was the source of the home runs. Brandon Crawford, who had 17 in 1,350 big-league plate appearnces, hit both of them, a solo go-ahead homer against left-handed starter Alex Wood in the fourth inning and a two-run insurance shot against right-handed reliever Jordan Walden in the eighth.

Crawford had not hit two in a big-league game before Sunday.

When the Giants swept the Braves at Fulton County Stadium in 1988 they scored 30 runs on 49 hits. This weekend, they won by scores of 2-1, 3-1 and 4-1 behind a pitching staff that is hitting its stride — and without a single hit with runners in scoring position.

All three starters in the series, Tim Lincecum, Ryan Vogelsong and Madison Bumgarner, allowed one run in six innings. All earned victories, with Bumgarner ending a three-game losing streak in Sunday’s getaway-day game.

Also for the third straight game, the Giants took a 1-0 lead, the Braves tied it and the Giants retook a 2-1 lead the next inning with a solo home run.

Sunday’s came from Crawford, who drove a 1-2 pitch from Wood into the seats in right-center.

Not happy with one home run, Crawford skied a two-run blast into the right-field seats against Walden in the eighth to give the Giants’ shutdown bullpen breathering room it did not need.

Crawford apparently was not content to contribute solely with his glove and arm in the series.

That Giants have homered in 11 straight games, a first since a 14-game streak in the National League pennant season.

The Giants manufactured a run for the first time in 21 innings to start the game. It happened on an odd play in the first inning after Hunter Pence’s one-out double and a wild pitch.

Buster Posey grounded out to first, but the umps called interference on catcher Evan Gattis. The immediate ruling was dead ball, Pence stays at third, Posey awarded first.

However, teams in such circumstances have the right to accept the results of the play instead, and maanger Bruce Bochy informed the umps that is what he wanted. He preferred a run in, two outs and nobody on over runners on the corners, one out and no runs scored.

After that, the Giants could not buy a clutch hit. Four times between innings two through seven they had runners in scoring position with less than two outs and did not score.

With the bases loaded and one out in the seventh, Brandon Belt smoked the first pitch to the left side, but right to shortstop Ramiro Pena for a double play.

Bumgarner took the mound with a 1-0 lead and wasted no time demonstrating the command he lacked during the three-game losing streak. He started the game by striking out Jason Heyward on a 93-mph fastball at the hands, then struck out three of the next five Braves.

Bumgarner’s command eluded him once in the third inning when he grabbed pitcher Alex Wood’s sacrifice bunt and threw it away, allowing Pena to take third base. Pena scored an unearned run on Jason Heyward’s sacrifice fly to tie the game 1-1.

When Crawford homered in the fourth for a 2-1 Giants lead, Bumgarner shut down the Braves by striking out the 3-4-5 hitters, Freddie Freeman, Justin Upton and Evan Gattis.

Bumgarner made some big pitches in the sixth inning after he walked leadoff man B.J. Upton, who stole second with nobody out. He got to third and no farther. The inning and Bumgarner’s day ended with a strikeout of Gattis.